The Ugly

Apollo Global Management is forecasting a severe US recession triggered by Trump’s tariffs and trade war

72% of white evangelical Protestants approving of the way Trump is currently handling his job as president. 69% rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good and 57% say they trust what Trump says more than what previous presidents said. (Pew Research)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he is not worried about empty shelves at retailers (ABC News)

Elon Musk and his companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential federal fines and penalties the day Trump took office, according to a congressional report released Monday that highlights the possible conflicts of interest posed by the billionaire’s cost-cutting work in government. (LA Times)

‘60 Minutes’ chastises Paramount, its corporate parent

  • Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, has been intent on securing approval from the Trump administration for a multibillion-dollar sale of her media company to a studio run by the son of Larry Ellison, the tech billionaire. (Politico / The Independent / NYT / Variety)

China says it can live without US farm and energy goods

  • China’s top economic officials said the country could do without American farm and energy imports as they vowed to achieve a 5 per cent GDP growth target for the year despite the trade war with the US. Zhao Chenxin, vice chair of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planner, said domestic farm and energy production, along with imports from non-US sources, would be more than enough to satisfy demand. “Even if we do not purchase feed grains and oilseeds from the United States, it will not have much impact on our country’s grain supply,” Zhao said. (Financial Times)

The CEO of logistics company Flexport has a grim forecast for what could happen if the US sticks to its tariffs on China.

  • The US’s 145% duty on Chinese products could lead to “mass bankruptcies,” Flexport’s CEO, Ryan Petersen, said on an episode of ‘”The Prof G Pod,” which aired on Friday. “You’re talking like 80% of small business that buys from China will just die,” he said. “And millions of employees will be unemployed.” (Business Insider)

How low can Trump’s approval numbers go? (The Bulwark / Gallup / Rolling Stone)